The Best Vertigo Comics: Where to Start With Vertigo?

If we’re talking about who has the title for best comic book publisher in the 2010’s, my easy quick answer goes to Image Comics. Image has delivered comic books at such a consistently high quality, from such talented creators, that it has earned its reputation for highest batting average in the game.

What newer comic book fans might not realize, is that Vertigo Comics was held in similarly high esteem for most of the 1990’s (the imprint officially launched in 1993) and into the 2000’s. Given that pristine legacy, there’s always a possibility that Vertigo could return to reclaim their crown at any point.

Below you’ll find a guide to all the best Vertigo Comics (of which there are many), organized into manageable sections. This list includes many must-reads for comic book fans, as well as some of my favorite comics of all time.

I) DC Comics Universe

A number of what are now considered Vertigo Comics actually launched as part of DC Comics proper, and their mature approach was later adopted by the Vertigo imprint. As such, Vertigo has the rare quality of “prestige” comics that very much fall within the Big 2 superhero universes.

Swamp Thing

The Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totelben is one of the most important comics published by either DC or Marvel, redefining what a “superhero” or “horror” comic could dream possible.

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Swamp Thing navigates the mid 1980’s and DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths (complete with the requisite tie-in), and shares the heady artistic ambitions of Vertigo’s ethos. This is mandatory comic book reading for fans of DC, or the medium in general.

Hellblazer

It’s worth noting that Vertigo’s longest running series of all time (over 300 issues) gets its start in Swamp Thing, where Alan Moore and company introduce British working class magician John Constantine.

Animal Man

Grant Morrison’s second DC Comic to get the retroactive Vertigo designation, Animal Man is a fascinating exploration of human/animal relationships, as well as the philosophical question of meeting your maker.

Animal Man has a similar collected approach to Doom Patrol, although when you can find the omnibus for under $50, it’s actually the most cost effective solution.

Matt Wagner teams up with Amy Reeder for the sorcery of Madame Xanadu. This series was successful enough that Madame Xanadu became a part of Justice League Dark during DC’s New 52.

II) Sandman Universe and Neil Gaiman’s Vertigo Comics

Neil Gaiman’s work on Sandman is my favorite Vertigo Comic (and my second favorite comic book series of all time). Gaiman, Mckean, and various artist’s work across the Sandman mythos is so consistently excellent, that it also spawned several similarly well-regarded comics, including Lucifer, which has since made its way to Fox on TV.

III) Grant Morrison Vertigo Comics

We’ve already seen a fair amount of Grant Morrison’s impact on Vertigo, with his DC Comics work for Animal Man and Doom Patrol.

This being the incredibly prolific comic book icon Grant Morrison, there are plenty more comics to enjoy as part of his Vertigo output.

The Invisibles

Explaining the Invisibles is a bit like trying to explain Captain Beefheart and his Magical Band. Invisibles is pure Morrison, mainlained straight into the vein, and that can either result in your favorite comic book series ever, or a completely off-putting ball of confusion. The trick of course is to read for yourself and find out.

Additional Vertigo Comics from Grant Morrison

IV) Peter Milligan Vertigo Comics

When stacked up against Moore, Gaiman, and Morrison, writer Peter Milligan gets easily lost in the shuffle. This is a bit unfair, and overshadows his essential role in building a corner of Vertigo as one of the earliest founding writers on the imprint.

I mean, the guy wrote X-Statix with Mike Allred for Marvel – let’s not overlook how brilliant a writer Peter Milligan can be!

For those of you looking for deep cuts and comic books slightly off the familiar “best of” lists, look no further. Milligan’s work is deeply underrated, and the below comics remain some of the coolest lesser known series you can add to your library.

Additional Vertigo Comics From Peter Milligan

V) Brian K. Vaughn Vertigo Comics

Vaughn is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful writers working in comics today, with a veritable murderer’s row of output, including the wildly popularly Saga from Image comics.

Vaughn’s comics claim to fame begins at Vertigo, though, with the excellent long-running series Y: The Last Man (one of my 20 favorite comics of all time), and the standalone graphic novel Pride of Baghdad.

VI) Fables Universe

Fables is remarkable, both in scope and longevity. Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham transformed what could have been a conceptual curiousity into the longest running Vertigo comic book series, full of depth, emotion and a lived-in world.

The storybook characters of Fables prove such ample ground for comics that the Universe actually spawns spinoff series for 50 issue Vertigo runs, in Jack of Fables and Fairest.

The Unwritten/ The Unwritten: Apocalypse

For the most part, The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross (the same creative team behind Vertigo’s Lucifer) is an entirely self-contained brilliant re-imaging of the Harry Potter ethos in modern times. Nonetheless, a later crossover with Fables (issues #50 to #55), and overlapping sensibilities lands Unwritten in this section of the guide.

VIII) Astro City

Kurt Busiek’s love letter to superheroes, and willingness to to explore every corner of their universe, bounced around publishers before finding its way to Vertigo.

Astro City is very much like George R.R. Martin’s anthology collections, Wild Cards, in that the series take a deep and abiding history with superhero comics and add shades of realism and unasked questions without losing any of the heart or magic.

IX) Vertigo Comics – Best of the Rest

When I first read the opening arc to Preacher, I felt let down. What’s all the hype about this series? There was a clear compelling concept, and groundwork for great characters from Ennis and Dillon, but the cheap shockstick of some of the violence felt lazy and uninteresting a few decades after publication.

When I made it back to Preacher, committed to finish the series with an impending TV series on the way, it was like the heavenly skies parted. Taken in its entirety, Ennis and Dillon crafted nothing short of a masterpiece, a funny, scathing, insightful satire of America and religion. Preacher is now one of my 20 favorite comic books of all time, and I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Lemire’s Sweet Tooth runs incredibly far on a fairly simple concept, with post-apocalyptic animal-human hybrids just trying to survive. Lemire accomplishes this with trademark poignancy, somehow able to build deep connections to all his characters in the span of a few short issues.

Daytripper is the kind of graphic novel that you find yourself saying “Oh, damn that’s a smart idea” within two issues. It’s also the kind of life-affirming, relentlessly authentic storytelling that keeps you in perpetual fear of the next tearjerking moment, even as you’re laughing along.

I have an admittedly weird relationship with V for Vendetta. The graphic novel from Moore and Lloyd is clearly stunning, influential craftsmanship but… I saw the movie first. There was no suspense in the plot for me by the time I read it! So yes, I recommend it, but not nearly as highly as many other Alan Moore comics.

I was pretty shocked to read iZombie after watching (and loving) the first few seasons of the TV show. The comic book is completely different. Honestly, if they weren’t named the same thing it would be genuinely difficult to map one to the other.

As such, iZombie is a fun conceptual romp from Roberson and Allred, with far more supernatural elements than the TV show. Given that Allred is one of my favorite comic book artists, iZombie is also a joy to behold.

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About Dave

Dave is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Comic Book Herald, and also the Boss of assigning himself fancy titles. He's a long-time comic book fan, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants. Contact Dave @comicbookherald on Twitter or via email at dave@comicbookherald.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Gawd, imagine a Vertigo Unlimited. I would hit that so hard. When I fell out of love with comics in the 90’s, Sandman and Transmetropolitan were the two titles that kept me going to the shop each month, up until they finished. So much other stuff you’ve listed here that I wish I’d read.